Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Let's Catch Up On...

Books

Your many, many reading suggestions for Violet and other teen-aged girls were wonderful and overwhelming. Both the birthday girl and her mother (who thanks you all, as do I) have read them.

I took care to indicate when inscribing Violet's books that some of the content might be a little "mature" for her mother's comfort; this seems to have had the desired result on her level of interest in them.

I needed something fun for bedtime reading, so I picked up the new Penguin edition of The Tibetan Book of the Dead. They did it up right, translating the whole megillah into English for the first time and snagging the Dalai Lama to write the introduction. Pretty cover, too.

It makes a nice counterpoint to the other thing on my nightstand–the latest volume of the Complete Peanuts series.

The older I get, the more I understand why potential husbands have often fled my presence when the conversation turned to books.

Knitting (Mine)

The new Baby Surprise Jacket is complete except for weaving in ends and choosing buttons. Pictures forthcoming. I tried something new this time, and instead of making yo,k2tog buttonholes as Elizabeth specifies, I turned to her one-row method from Knitter's Almanac. It works like a charm. By the third buttonhole, I had the method memorized. Highly recommended.

Knitting (Other People's)

I've been hearing from many the ten colleagues to whom I taught the basics back in February, and the word is encouraging. A summary:

One has pressed onward with her scarf, refusing to rip back, amazed by the improvement in her technique since the cast-on row. She's doing very well, with even tension and neat edges. Her first ten rows or so are fascinating, as in places the results are unlike anything I've ever seen anybody create with needles and yarn. Perhaps I should encourage her to send the finished object to Debbie New for analysis.

One threw her little bag of supplies into a suitcase at the last minute before leaving on a business trip. She was delayed at the airport for hours. She says the knitting saved her sanity. I tried not to look overly smug.

One decided she didn't want to continue on in the yarn from the class, so she went to the yarn store and bought her own. She emerged unscathed with a bag of wool she likes very much. She's well into the second ball and can see the Promised Land.|

The student who didn't want to put down her needles after she picked them up found somebody to teach her to purl and is now, by her own admission, addicted. She is asking questions about lace.

Okay, Headquarters: where's my toaster oven?

Podcasting

Brenda Dayne has asked for a new essay for the end of the present Cast On series, which delights me without end. I finished the first draft last night, once I pried Dolores (who was cruising Craiglist for temporary companionship) away from the computer.

A couple people have asked if I'm going to do a Podcast of my own. No plans to at present, no. It's a lot of work to do it well, and I can barely keep up with what's already on my plate. However, I've toyed with the idea of an occasional audio "supplement" to this blog, because I've been building a Podcast for my employer and have fallen in love with the process.Movies

Following my review of 300, we learned via comments that Véronik Avery (who knew you were reading?) is not only so talented that she designs stuff like the "Salt Peanuts" sweater from Interweave Knits Spring 2004, she's also married to one of the Spartans from the film.

I could so smack her.

E-mail

I think there are about 340 people waiting for e-mail from me. Now that I'm starting to emerge from the black fog that has enveloped me for two or so months, I'm working through the pile. Your patience is appreciated with an almost weepy level of gratitude.

The Shop

I haven't had the energy to do much with the shop, either; but my ink bottle is once again full, so to speak. Watch (if you've nothing better to do) for the arrival of P2tog and some other stuff in the next week or so.

34 comments:

Anna-Liza
said...

Gracious! It's so nice to see you coming out of your funk. And I'm suffering from Veronik envy, too.

I made the mistake of promising socks that look like superhero boots to my two youngest sons (ages 5 and 3). The elder wants Superman. The younger wants Wonder Woman. I'm trying to figure out how to do the top shaping for WW.

I just fnished directing a producton of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" (the 1999 revised version, which is so much better than the original, IMHO.), which led me to revisit the characters I grew up with. Awesome stuff. Very cool to see that you're a fan of Peanuts.

"I took care to indicate when inscribing Violet's books that some of the content might be a little "mature" for her mother's comfort; this seems to have had the desired result on her level of interest in them."

Franklin, I am so glad to hear that you're planning on working on the shop. My little daughter, now almost three weeks old, is pining away for a Dolores onesie, which you promised to add to the shop around the time she was just a gleam in both her mothers' eyes. I haven't wanted to nag, since you've obviously been having a rough time lately, but I promise you the photo we'll send of a beautful little girl sporting a drawing of a cigarette-smoking, foul-mouthed, over-sexed sheep will make you proud (and, possibly, make you call Child Protective Services).

Feel better, Franklin. After things go down, they always go up -- higher than you can imagine. I promise.

I see no issues with your bedside collection of books. I currently have The World is Flat, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and Nora Robert's Black Rose going. My husband has Elizabeth I and the latest Baby Blues collection on his side of the bed.

Glad to see you coming out of your funk. The nice weather last week in Chicago helped, I bet.

Have just read " when are we gonna see some orgiastic Roman photos of your cleavage?" and my spectacles steamed over - Ooops, was just my hot cup of tea!Heard on the radio that today was the first day of spring (in the UK anyway) - hooray, vertical rain is on the way!

I'm glad the fog has lifted. And would you please ask Veronik if any of the Spartans are single and like older women? Or if they have older brothers that are available? I'll assume they are in their 20's and 30's? Although I did have a rousing time with a 25 year old when I was 41 and had had a hard time keeping up with ME.(disclaimer: not that very long ago) Older dos have its advantages. And I have slowed down a trifle.

I've been dying for the P2tog to come out. Though can you have it printed on some underpants? And some boxers? And then maybe my husband and I can indulge in some absolutely horrifying bathroom moments? And then I can shut up about my personal life in the comments of someone else's blog before I'm committed to SexualDeviantLand (Mr. Toad's Wild Ride opening this summer)...

My dog's name is Schroeder, by the way. So I'm with ya on the Peanuts. Vital.

Totally unrelated, somehow an old post of yours popped up in Google reader. The topic was books and you mentioned older Brit fiction. I didn't see this one on your list. I just discovered him. Quite fun. http://www.geocities.com/ephillipsoppenheim/

Please don't smack me - besides, Marcel played a free greek baker, not a spartan. He is quite pleased that anyone is jealous of me on account of him, but is unfortunately unaware of any of the Spartans' marital status. He does know that the abs are real, though they might be a tiny bit enhanced...

Spartans have been coming at at us all night , first Mum makes "tsk, tsk" noises after reading your blog ( war films ..hates them except "English Civil War" ) then the weekly T.V listings arrives with the grocery delivery. Mum looks at said listings and finds a really naff old film called "The 300 Spartans" ( 1962) and expresses alarm over Franklin's desperation for entertainment. Then a reviewer on T.V interviews one of those actresses who rattle on like Sharon Stone in Rupert Everett's auto-bio about her character connecting with her ...more "tsk-tsk" from Mum.

P G Wodehouse got me through my winter blues. You might enjoy the complete Jeeves and Wooster series, it features a very young Stephen Fry and the lovely Hugh Laurie. It's expensive in the US at the moment, there's a cheaper version in the UK, but it depends if you can see region 2 DVDs.http://www.amazon.com/Jeeves-Wooster-Complete-8pc/dp/B00006AVRK/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-0742512-3805667?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1174904368&sr=1-1

Copyright and Posting Notice

All original content of this blog, both words and images, is held in copyright by F. Habit. Use of any kind, in any medium, for any reason without express, prior written consent is prohibited.

Permission is not granted for the posting of any content from this site to Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, or any other Web site.

Please do not provide links to any product, service, organization or cause when leaving comments unless directly related to the topic of the post. Unsolicited advertising will be deleted and repeat offenders will be blocked.

When in doubt, please ask. I'm not mean, I'm just committed to preserving the quality of experience for my readers.